>*Bo:sma- doesn't even necessarily refer to the breast(s). I
>know the word best from the Old English context, where it usually
>means the interior of something or a hidden space, such as that
>created by the folded arms, rather than somethin open or exposed.
>
>Piotr
In German, der Busen /'bu:z&n/ (Old High Germ. buosam, buosum.)
means (1) "breast/s;" (2) a gulf: Meerbusen (syn. Bucht, Meeresbucht,
Meeresarm, Golf). Example Jadebusen /'ja:d&bu:z&n/ a small German
North Sea gulf (main port: Wilhelmshaven in Friesland; West of
Bremerhaven, which is very near), part of main gulf Deutsche Bucht.
German also has preserved the idea of "interior", "comprising",
"engulfing" esp. (3) in figurative senses ("inner part, world")
(according to the dictionary "(fig.) Inneres des Menschen". BTW,
a very close, "good friend", like a brother, is called a Busenfreund.
George